THAT IS PRECISELY WHY GOD SENT HIS SON. HE KNEW THAT MAN WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO FULFILL ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS.

13/07/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13, NLT

DESTINY DESIRES
It’s one thing to have the desire to live for God and do what pleases Him. That’s great, but God doesn’t stop there. He says, “I’m going to give you the power to do it. I’m going to give you the favor, the courage, the skill, and the resources that you need.” You’re going to feel strength that you’ve never felt, ability that you’ve never had, favor like you’ve never seen. God doesn’t just give you the desire; He gives you the ability to accomplish what He puts in your heart.

God has destiny desires lined up for you, things you want to accomplish that He drops in your heart. Others will think it’s too big, it doesn’t make sense. They’re intimidated. It’s because God didn’t put the desire in them. That desire is leading you down the best path—a path of abundance, a path of greater influence, a path of helping more people, making a bigger difference, seeing your gifts come out in greater ways. Get ready. That desire will be stronger than anything that tries to hold you back.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You are working in me and giving me desires to do Your will and the power to do it. Thank You that I have the strength to overcome and be disciplined to do the right thing. I believe that You are leading me down the best path for my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

What qualifies you for God’s protection?

I ask this question because I have heard many ministers whose teachings make it seem like you have to qualify for God’s blessings. They make it sound like God blesses you only if you are able to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This also applies in the area of your protection. When they read, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him” (boldface mine), they conclude that God’s protection is dependent on us fulfilling the condition of loving the Lord perfectly.

Unfortunately, such teaching robs you of the faith to believe God for divine protection over yourself and your loved ones. Anything that is dependent on our efforts is on a shaky foundation, because no matter how “good” a Christian we think we are, our love for the Lord will fail.

That is precisely why God sent His Son. He knew that man would never be able to fulfill all His commandments.

In sending His Son, He was saying to us, “I know you can’t, so let Me love you with all My heart, all My mind, and all My strength.” Therein lies the beautiful love story we call the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God SO loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to save and ransom us. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled all the requirements of the law. Today, even when our love for Him wavers, even when we fail, He still delivers us from evil!

One Scripture that beautifully encapsulates the crux of the new covenant of grace is 1 John 4:10 (boldface mine): “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the atoning sacrifice] for our sins.”

I pray that your heart will be anchored on this revelation. The emphasis of the new covenant is God’s love for you, not your love for God.

Am I saying that your love for God is unimportant? Of course not. What I am saying is that our love for Him will always waver, but His love never fails.

The Bible declares that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lam. 3:22 ESV, boldface mine). I am so grateful that we are under the new covenant of God’s amazing grace, where we can depend on His unconditional, unchanging, and irrevocable love for us!